Sorry, I mistakenly posted this in another subforum. Hello, I've identified the main problem with my WM-D6C as a stuck head assembly in the tape tray (not sure what the part is actually called). It's the lower plate that pops up when play is hit and down when stop is pressed, carrying with it the heads and the pinch roller. Simply put, it doesn't travel fully in either direction. With the back open, it can be shoved up into contact with a tape--whereupon it plays fine--or down into the off position, which allows a tape to be ejected. Otherwise, the tape just gets stuck and the auto-off triggers after a few seconds. I tried cleaning the surface and beneath the pivot arm with 99% IPA, and obviously I've pressed the buttons about a hundred times now. But it hasn't seemed to do anything. Furthermore, these components are buried so deeply that I'm concerned about my ability to correctly reassemble everything if I have to fully explode the Walkman to clean in between the links on the pivot arm, for example. Attached are some pictures of what it looks like with the the tray plate removed. As you can see, there are mm gaps on either side whether playing or stopped. The first one is having pushed it into full extension. Any help would be appreciated.
The travel back problem can be caused by a missing spring on the PLAY button, it's something I've seen on some D6Cs. Spring either missing or not installed, rattling around inside the walkman. Probably someone forgot to install it correctly when re-installing the flywheel bracket. If this is the case, you should be able to push the head bridge assy back with your fingers by pushing back on it. If pushing it back by hand works, means problem is the missing spring. Then as far as the other problem is concerned, in pictures it seems the bridge is travelling to the max position, but thr roller is disengaged. This could be caused by PAUSE being stuck into the engaged position.
Hi everyone, roughly a week on from my first repair--and seven straight days of tinkering later--I think the WM-D6C is in full working condition. I'll present an abridged work log below for posterity, with what issues arose and how I eventually fixed them. In my experience, the Pro was very finicky: I think I caused almost all of these issues myself by not being careful enough with previous repairs. That said, I eventually wound up being too worried about the robustness of the electronics. I quickly became comfortable disassembling the PCB clamshell and even test running the mechanisms with the casing fully removed. Walkman eating tapes. This was the original problem. After a few minutes, the takeup spool would sputter or slow, and tape would get bunched up at the pinch roller and capstan. Replacing the main belt fixed this issue. Play button was stuck The culprit turned out to be a spring that connects from the rear of the play button assembly to the edge of the capstan flywheel retainer. It had been disconnected accidentally when I removed the retainer to replace the drive belt. However, maybe with age, or maybe from a previous repair, that spring turned out to be about six mm too long. I used pliers and wire cutters to cut and reshape the spring, giving the play button really solid tension. Crappy audio quality, left channel dropping out Easy fix. Just swapped the inside of the headphone jack with a little 99% IPA. Auto-off and Auto-stop triggering automatically This turned out to be the result of a bad play idler tire that had shrunk, gotten hard, or wore away and therefore was not contacting the tire on the clutch gear. Clutch gear slippage meant no spool turning, which meant the auto-off triggered. Replacing the play idler fixed this. In disassembling the auto-stop assembly to diagnose the problem, I found that it is VERY finicky and must be reconstructed in a very particular way--most important is a spiral spring sandwiched between two plastic components that must be hooked around two rods. Thankfully, this spring is so fine that it is easy to reassemble and then hook the spring. Missing c-clip Oh no! While installing the retainer on top of the plastic flywheel, the C-clip went flying out of my tweezers and disappeared. An hour of searching turned nothing up. Thankfully, I was able to pick up a couple of 3mm c-clips at my local hardware store and bend them to size first using pliers, then tweezers to secure them on the spindle. Tapes getting stuck, not ejecting, and no audio The culprit here was a jammed head assembly--the metal tray that carries the heads and pinch roller up to the capstan and tape. I spent a long time cleaning and lubricating to no avail. I determined the problem was not electrical by getting it to play by forcing the head up toward the tape. In disassembling the clips holding the assembly down to the tape tray, I found the assembly now moved freely. The problem was that the assembly had somehow become bent. I tried to bend it back into place but worried about dealing further permanent damage. Instead, I left the right side clipped down and the left side relatively loose, retained only by the tape tray backing plate. The upshot of this, I think, is that the play button has to be pushed VERY hard to get the head to engage--but it still works. I also got around to replacing the rest of the rubber, except for the capstan tire. This fixed a broken counter--just pop in a new belt. If you slip it in with a piece of paper burrito-wrapped around it, you don't even need to disassemble the button arms to anchor it under the counter. Bad wow and flutter, weak torque again The wow and flutter got worse over about the course of a day. I was terrified to use ferric chloride, thinking it would damage the PCB, but it was actually the most painless repair. I ordered a bottle for about fifteen bucks online and, with my hands and eyes protected, held a Q-tip I'd dipped into the mouth of the bottle to the rotating capstan. The effect was instant and visible: the shiny capstan immediately became rough. I let it dry, then swabbed with 99% IPA and finally a dry Q-tip. Next, I opened up the PCBs again and let the machine run while carefully examining the play mechanism for stoppage. Something was stopping the belt every thirty seconds or so, and had kicked a bunch of black dust or debris up. It turned out to be the new play idler tire, whose spindle had lost its retaining washer/c-clip. I pushed it down, installed a new washer and leftover c-clip, and closed her up. A replay of Art Blakey's Moanin' confirmed the Wow and Flutter was gone, and the takeup spool is turning strong and at normal speed. All in all, this could have all been accomplished in a single evening. The reason it took so long was how much research and trial-and-error was involved. The Pro's service manual is robust but not instructional. I frequently had to watch youtube videos of unrelated repairs to see what the internals were supposed to look like. And some of my solutions--like leaving the head assembly loose on the left side--would be inappropriate for professional repair. Nevertheless, I have owned and loved my Pro for almost ten years at this point, and I am grateful I decided to nut up and do the repairs myself instead of passing it on to the next person for crazy eBay prices. Thank you to Valentin and Deb for the wealth of knowledge you've already provided on the Pro. Thank you to simonmp and dotneck335 for checking in to my thread. Thanks to all you tapeheads for keeping the beautiful medium alive. Your passion is proof positive against the idea that things and ideas should be disposable. To any who may come after me, seeking knowledge to fix your own Pro, I hope you find something useful here. If not, ask. I did, and I'm glad I did.
